Abstract

This study was prompted by the observation that positive urine cultures were obtained as a purely incidental finding from many of the women hospitalized on the Stanford Medical Service. It was the impression of the staff that many of these patients presented no symptoms referable to their urinary tracts. The questions which immediately arose were: What is the significance of these positive urine cultures and what is the frequency of urinary tract infections in this type of woman?

Interest in the incidence of and in the significance of urinary tract infections is far from being purely academic. Several investigators have